Thursday, March 21, 2013

I always pace around departure areas, so today was no exception at the Busan ferry terminal.

A couple years ago, had I not been pacing around the Haridwar (India) station platform at 3:00 a.m. waiting for a train that never came, I might not have been spotted in the crowd by four backpackers. I would've missed the scariest, most invigorating car (jeep) ride of my life. Stuff like that makes me feel really alive.

Anyway, there I was, doing the Busan Shuffle, when a Korean guy walked up to me, and asked: "Are you Trevor?"

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

March 22: Hydrofoil from Busan, South Korea to Fukuoka (Southern Japan).April 11: Check in to Sapporo New Chitose Airport hotel (Northern Japan)--I'm catching an early flight next morning.April 12: Fly Sapporo to Tokyo, then nonstop to Minneapolis.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Until recently, when we went back-country camping, we'd bring a lightweight camp stove. That meant safe water from streams, hot meals, and an unlimited supply of the best Kona coffee... ever. (We also brought a Melitta coffee filter cone.)

These days, when we back-country camp, we carry a very effective ultraviolet water sterilizer, which lets us save on weight by leaving the camping stove and accompanying paraphernalia at home.

No Kona coffee, no hot meals. Oh well.

You'll notice another item in the picture: a bottle of iodine pills to be used if the primary mechanism for sterilizing water fails. We've carried that same bottle for 25 years, but, mercifully have never had to use it. The shelf life of those pills exceeds my expiration date.